There has heretofore been a plate-like or sheet-like connection member such as a flexible printed circuit (FPC) or a flexible flat cable (FFC). This type of connection members can be mated directly with a mating connection member. In order to facilitate a mating operation of such a connection member, as proposed in JP-A-H06-283236 (Patent Literature 1), a clip is attached to an end portion of an FFC so as to hold the end portion of the FFC in a bending state.
The technique disclosed in Patent Literature 1 will briefly be described with reference to FIG. 1.
In FIG. 1, a clip 2 is attached to an FFC 1 so as to hold an end portion 1a of the FFC 1 in a state in which the end portion 1a is bent substantially at a right angle. The clip 2 includes a first plate part 2a, a second plate part 2b, and left and right connection band parts 2c for connecting the first plate part 2a and the second plate part 2b to each other. The first plate part 2a, the second plate part 2b, and the connection band parts 2c are formed integrally with each other. The FFC 1 is inserted into a hole defined between the left and right connection band parts 2c and sandwiched between the first plate part 2a and the second plate part 2b. The end portion 1a of the FFC 1 has a tip exposed externally from the clip 2. Thus, the FFC 1 can be mated directly with a connector 3 by inserting the tip of the end portion 1a in an insertion slot 3a of the connector 3.